South Africa: Tyla, rising star of amapiano, enters the Billboard

At 21 years old, the rising star of the amapiano phenomenon in South Africa, Tyla, made on Tuesday a notable entry in the Billboard Hot 100, American musical ranking of the most listened titles each week, with his hit became viral «Water»

«Tyla made its first appearance in the Billboard Hot 100 with Water, the single that allowed the South African singer-songwriter to break through, ranked 67th» the American magazine Billboard announced on its website.

Singer, dancer, performer, Tyla Laura Seethal, has only a few singles to her credit but she is already described by music industry professionals as one of the most promising talents on the continent.

Signed by the label Epic Records (Sony), this year it was the opening act during the European tour of the American singer of RnB Chris Brown.

His title «Water» released in July, in the amapiano vein born in the South African townships before becoming a planetary style, gained popularity in a few weeks especially on TikTok, thanks to a video of the artist dancing seen more than 70 million times.

The official clip, which uses the codes of the RnB, has already accumulated more than 11 million views on YouTube. And the song has exceeded on Spotify the number of monthly listenings of the global hit «Jerusalema» concocted by the South African Master KG.

«I am a South African born and raised in Johannesburg. It’s crazy» she said on X (ex-Twitter) after joining the Billboard. «Let’s make our sound heard around the world» said the artist, who is preparing his first album, hailing «a victory for all of Africa».

Pascal Amstrong